From The Sports Desk: New Yorkers rejoice as the Knicks return to the NBA Finals

Are the New York Knicks the best team in the NBA? Over the past few weeks, they’ve sure looked like it. After falling behind the Atlanta Hawks 2-1 in the first round of the playoffs, New York has rattled off 11 straight wins, by a margin of about 24 points per game, to reach its first NBA Finals since 1999.

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After the Knicks dismantled the Cleveland Cavaliers last night to win the Eastern Conference finals, New York fans gathered to celebrate outside Madison Square Garden, when the game had been played in … Cleveland. Imagine what the scene will look like if the Knicks win it all.

Our Rohan Nadkarni breaks down the Knicks’ run below, and Spain’s Lamine Yamal is our World Cup spotlight of the day. For more NBA and World Cup coverage, as always, check out the NBC News website .

NBA Playoffs

With the New York Knicks back in the NBA Finals for the first time since 1999, the question now is, can they actually win a championship as they last did in 1973?

Remember, the Knicks entered the playoffs under significant pressure to win. Last year, New York fired head coach Tom Thibodeau after he guided the team to the conference finals, which at the time was the team’s best postseason finish since 2000.

“Our organization is singularly focused on winning a championship for our fans,” team president Leon Rose said in the statement announcing Thibodeau’s firing.

Rose’s lofty expectations were echoed by owner James Dolan in January.

“I’d say we want to get to the Finals and we should win the Finals,” Dolan said in an interview on radio station WFAN.

The “Finals or bust” talk in New York, combined with the coaching change, makes the Knicks’ complete and utter dominance throughout the playoffs even more impressive.

New York is now only the fourth team to have an 11-game winning streak during the playoffs. Two of the other three — the 2001 Los Angeles Lakers and the 2017 Golden State Warriors — won a title. (The third, the 1989 Lakers, were swept in the Finals.) What’s perhaps even more impressive, however, is that the Knicks own the best point differential during an 11-game span in NBA history. Not only playoffs, but any 11-game stretch in the entirety of the NBA.

New York has lost only twice this postseason, in the first round, with both losses coming by one point. You could argue the Knicks have already exceeded expectations by how thoroughly they’ve dominated, but they don‘t appear ready to take their foot off the gas.

“It’s something that New York has been dying for a long time and we’ll enjoy that plane ride. But once we get in those cars and go to our respective homes, it’s going to be back to business,” Karl-Anthony Towns said last night. “We’re all going to be in the gym tomorrow probably getting shots up, getting treatment, doing what we need to do to get ready for the next series already. We understand that the job’s not done.”

World Cup Countdown

Leading up to the 2026 World Cup, we’re counting down 26 players to watch. Today’s entry is Spain’s Lamine Yamal .

Once described by French legend Thierry Henry as being “ahead of the game,” Yamal is a rising superstar of the sport and is widely considered to be the future Lionel Messi.

The 18-year-old has already won three La Liga titles with FC Barcelona, a Spanish Cup, a Spanish Super Cup and a Euros championship in addition to being a Ballon d’Or runner-up.

It isn’t just the statistics that make Yamal a superstar — though it certainly doesn’t hurt to be one of La Liga’s top scorers.

The teenage phenom is able to complement his obvious technical skills with a flair and maturity in high-pressure situations that is well beyond his years. Spanish national team manager Luis de la Fuente described Yamal earlier this year as being one of those players whom you watch and think that he’s “touched by magic.”

It’s an aspect of the game that cannot be described in words but can be felt whenever that athlete gets a touch on the ball. Yamal is most likely your favorite player’s favorite player to watch, to steal a somewhat corny adage.

Yamal was born in Spain to a Moroccan father and a mother from Equatorial Guinea. He said he chose to play for the Spanish national team because he wanted to compete in European championships.

This summer will be his first World Cup appearance and he’s coming in riding high after Barcelona won its second consecutive La Liga title a few weeks ago. He’s expected to arrive after a pause in his club play after a hamstring injury sidelined him for more than a month, though Barcelona’s management has predicted that he will be in shape in time for the tournament.

Spanish fans are putting a lot of hope on Yamal as the national team has failed to make it past the round of 16 since winning the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

Yesterday’s entry was Haiti’s Duckens Nazon . Read about him here .

What We’re Reading

Over the weekend, our Andrew Greif attended the inaugural Enhanced Games , where drugs don’t get athletes banned. They could get them rich.

As this newsletter arrives in your inbox, Team USA will be revealing its World Cup roster.

The Supreme Court sided with Brian Flores in his discrimination suit against the NFL.

The Houston Astros combined for a no-hitter last night , MLB’s first since 2024.

Former Dolphins defensive lineman Manny Fernandez dies at 79 .

What We’re Watching

As the Knicks spend the next week resting, the Oklahoma City Thunder and the San Antonio Spurs will continue to bludgeon each other in the Western Conference finals. The series is now tied 2-2.

The Spurs took Game 4 due in large part to their suffocating defensive effort against the MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder’s role players. The series could turn if Oklahoma City’s Jalen Williams can return at some point from injury.

That’s it for now! We’ll be back tomorrow.